July 25, 2010

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Some 92,000 secret U.S. military documents on Afghanistan and Pakistan acquired by a controversial whistleblower site earlier this year have emerged – in reports published Sunday night in the New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel. The takeout, from a first, fast reading: the U.S. is frustrated by evidence of continued Pakistani support for Afghan insurgents, and the war is not going well, according to the soldiers fighting it.

Neither of those facts is breaking news to anyone who’s been paying attention to the war, but the coordinated delivery of the stories to outlets in three of the largest troop-contributing nations to Afghanistan and sourced by the media-savvy WikiLeaks suggests the goal here is to catalyze an emerging consensus against the war.

The White House condemned the disclosure of classified information, saying WikiLeaks had not made any effort to contact the administration about the material and characterizing the group as "irresponsible" and motivated by opposition to U.S. policy to Afghanistan. The administration also emphasized that the leaked war logs largely were dated to the time period before Obama took office and before he announced his new Afghanistan surge policy last December.

"I don’t think anyone who follows this issue will find it surprising that there are concerns about ISI and safe havens in Pakistan," a White House official said Sunday. "Some of the disconcerting things reported are exactly why the President ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy."

"It is important to note that the time period reflected in the documents is January 2004 to December 2009," National Security Advisor (ret.) Gen. Jim Jones said in a statement Sunday.

The shift in strategy Obama ordered in December 2009 "addressed challenges in Afghanistan that were the subject of an exhaustive policy review last fall," Jones said.

Some 180 of the war logs and raw intelligence reports concern previously reported allegations that the Pakistani intelligence services have continued to provide covert support to Afghan insurgents.

"Taken together, the reports indicate that American soldiers on the ground are inundated with accounts of a network of Pakistani assets and collaborators," the New York Times reports.

But, the paper cautions, many of the raw intelligence reports and field threat assessments "cannot be verified," while "many ... rely on sources that the military rated as reliable."

"The records also contain firsthand accounts of American anger at Pakistan’s unwillingness to confront insurgents who launched attacks near Pakistani border posts, moved openly by the truckload across the frontier, and retreated to Pakistani territory for safety," the paper said.

Concerning Afghanistan, “the war logs detail how a secret ‘black’ unit of special forces hunts down Taliban leaders for ‘kill or capture’ without trial,” the Guardian reports:

· "How the U.S. covered up evidence that the Taliban has acquired deadly surface to air missiles.

· How the coalition is increasingly using deadly Reaper drones to hunt and kill Taliban targets by remote control from a base in Nevada.

· How the Taliban has caused growing carnage with a massive escalation of its roadside bombing campaign, which has killed more than 2,000 civilians to date."

"We know that serious challenges lie ahead, but if Afghanistan is permitted to slide backwards, we will again face a threat from violent extremist groups like al Qaeda who will have more space to plot and train," Jones said.

While Jones said the U.S. and Pakistan have deeped their counterterrorism cooperation since 2009, he acknowledged that the Pakistani military and intelligence services "must continue their strategic shift against insurgent groups. The balance must shift decisively against al Qaeda and its extremist allies."

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange told the Guardian that in the past two months, the group "has received another huge batch of 'high quality material' from military sources," the paper reported, adding that Assange has not agreed to a request to meet with the Pentagon's criminal investigations department to discuss U.S. government documents he is thought to possess.

"However illegally these documents came to light, they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan," the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a statement Sunday. "Those policies are at a critical stage and these documents may very well underscore the stakes and make the calibrations needed to get the policy right more urgent."

Laura Rozen and her JournoList conspirators refuse to disclose the names of everyone on JournoList. But when it comes to publishing national security secrets, the same "journalists" go full speed ahead. Rozen and the others are hypocritical filth.
Posted By: Oh--THAT Liberal media | July 25, 2010 at 06:24 PM
__________________________
Did other members of Journolist help you write this or could you manage on your own?
Posted By: Frank Pooler | July 25, 2010 at 06:32 PM
__________________________
Hey, they may be getting attorneys!
FYI:
Continuing revelations of blind prejudice, disregard for journalistic ethics, and just plain bile and bitterness among some liberal journalists participating in JournoList could have dire consequences for them.
What could easily become the most costly consequence other than the loss of professional credibility is the prospect of expensive litigation.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Heres-why-lots-of-JournoList-participants-may-soon-need-to-get-lawyered-up-99127154.html

This is what happens when you start an Illegal and immoral war to destroy a country that has not done a damn thing to you. If the GOVT really wanted Osama Bin Laden, they would offer 1 Billion dollars and not a paltry 25 Million. Our govt wants this war because it makes the war industry so much money and no matter who gets elected, biz goes on the same

Yeah I just read through them, and I'm wondering what we're supposed to know that's big with this story.
1. George Bush created a stronger Taliban. SHOCKER! Of course he did by focusing on Iraq.
2. Pakistan is helping the Taliban. SHOCKER! We've known that for how long? The question is the degree.
The only things these leaks have done is try to embellish existing claims against the war. There ain't much there to this story.

"WikiLeaks is walking a fine line between journalism and capital treason. Top Secret means they are not for everyone to see."
The American public education system is obviously a complete failure when someone says an international organization run by an Australian could in any way shape or form commit "capital treason" by publishing American secrets.

Posted By: "WikiLeaks is walking a fine line between journalism and capital treason. Top Secret means they are | July 25, 2010 at 07:09 PM

We need to tell Karzai that we are pulling all troops out of Afghanistan. And unless he gets his act together and controls the Taliban, we will "shock and awe" his country with cruise missiles, carpet bombing, daisy cutters, etc. It's all up to him. If anyone objects, we should remind them that this is what Pres. Clinton did to Kosovo to tame it.

I have no doubt the American people know little of what is really going on over there. The government keeps domestic information from us, and so why not this. The administration that promised transparency is even more secretive than the previous one if that is at all possible.
It is interesting because Bush was only in office just 9 mos when 9/11 occurred, and yet he was blamed for the attack instead of the prior administration. Now we have Obama in office for a year with these documents and still he isn't responsible. He was just getting his feet wet and hadn't come up with a good plan yet?????? Really? The WH is really going to use that excuse? Jim Jones maybe McCrystal was right about you.

I think they are criticizing all of Politico, which has not yet addressed its role in JournoList, on which Ms. Rozen and other Politico staff collaborated. In other words, much of their writings and opinions must now be taken with an even larger grain of salt, after it became clear that the former JournoList was an email rendezvous for the strategizing, shaping, and actual creation of news of a liberal bent.

Hey moron-Rozen is a journolist hack that's why-icidentally, i notice when a blogger is receiving a lot of criticism for his/her journolist approved story that someone usually like "mike in new mexico,David in new york, jim in Michigan dials in with something typically sarcastic- sounds like BEN , but since they all work in collusion with each other who gives a sh%^- they speak with one voice just take a gander at the headlines from wapo,nyt,newsweek,msnbc,cnn, and huffpo and you can see the same exact wording being used over and over again . For instance when Obama was embarrassed by McChrystal and had no choice but to come begging on bended knee to Petraeus- all the journolistas crowed "brilliant" literally they crowed brilliant-about 20 different people in the same hour- it's really quite funny,I guess they sincerely believe that we the American people are too stupid to recogonize a pattern.HAHA! This blog was journolist approved but not necessarily this answer. Sucks to be a paid dem hack posing as a REAL journalist. ANNND to have every one know it.

Laura, just a note to say thank you to you and the JournoListers. And, of course, a shout out to Barry (have a good golf game Mr. Prez!). Next task, let's get that mosque built at Ground Zero. All right then!

It's about time the American people learned what a terrible waste the Afghanistan AND Iraq Wars have been and are. Our soldiers are dying to protect and assist people who are unwilling to fight for themselves. To hell with both countries! Let them fend for themselves! It's time to put America's needs first.

Afghanistan is exactly like Vietnam --- only much worse. Just like Lyndon Johnson, Obama has committed our soldiers to a political war with one hand tied behind their back. DO YOUR JOB MR PRESIDENT and stop wasting our armed forces performing half-ass police actions while serving as cannon fodder.

Posted By: you won't hear the truth from "journolists" | July 25, 2010 at 10:08 PM

I took a look at some of the reports that wikileaks put out. I personally think they should have publicized the availability of the reports, but only released the reports to individuals after a request was made. This much data takes some time to go through to understand and there really is no reason to risk exposing sensitive data. I fully support the concept of wikileaks and their making this data public, and I applaud their making an internal review (as they indicate) of the data first, however, limited public review seems warranted in this case.

Don't worry folks, most of these comments come from "Lonely Guy" and he's a far right nut job. He obviously is bi because he has a crush on Laura AND Ben. What would you expect from someone who has no family or friends, who posts all day and all night. What a weirdo!!!

Fun story: Alyssa Rosenberg actually admits that she’s supposed to be non-partisan…right before expressing her happiness that “progressives” won and a “lot of horribly ugly stuff got repudiated tonight”.
And Laura Rozen of Politico:
LAURA ROZEN, FOREIGN POLICY (NOW POLITICO): Can you imagine if these bozos had won?
LAURA ROZEN: People we no longer have to listen to: would it be unwise to start a thread of people we are grateful we no longer have to listen to? If not, I’ll start off: Michael Rubin.
LAURA ROZEN: Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich (afraid it’s not true), Drill Here Drill Now, And David Addington, John Yoo, we’ll see you in court?
There are many, many more, and you really need to full flow to enjoy this........... http://amerpundit.com/2010/07/21/more-journolist-obama-wins-journalists-celebrate/

This is EXACTLY what happens when you allow Left Wing Nutroot homosexual Democrat Operatives to serve in the military.
The Military has a Left Wing Operative moles that are actively aiding and abetting the enemy.

I don't think it's a good idea for a website to be leaking "classified material" about a war that's still going on. Wonder how WWI and WWII would of turned out if the media back then was the way it is now?

"Sounds like treason to me. I wonder if the wimps in DC will pursue the traitors.
Posted By: GreenMountainMan "
What traitors? The Australians?
And as for the guy who leaked to wikileaks, what of it? You think the Taliban are unaware that Pakistan is supporting them, or that Karzai is corrupt.
These secrets were not secrets kept from the enemy, but from the American people. If that costs public support for this war, too bad. Democracy can't function when the secrets are kept from the voters.

It appears that these are mostly "secrets" from the American public. Everyone in Pakistan and Afghanistan knows the truth. The only reason the White House is enraged is because it is politically embarassing and reveals Obama's lies and hypocrisy.

I'm confused, the article is written by a member of the far left wacky Journolist propagandists, and at the end, feature a real live American traitor in John Kerry. Is there something in here we're supposed to believe?

The Afghan War
The failure in Afghanistan is political, not military. The Afghan government is corrupt and has no credibility with the Afghan people or the world community.
The Afghan government must be reformed and reorganized, again. This is done by initiating two constitutional amendments to the current Afghan constitution.
1. Executive branch is to consist of 7 elected presidents, a majority vote required to initiate any executive policy action. Keep Karzai and add 6 more.
2. The 352 Afghan assembly seats are increased to 1055 seats. This is one seat per 26,682 Afghans (population 28150000/1055). Keep the 352 and add 703 more. 26,600 is the representation ratio of the first American 1776 congress. This ratio worked miraculously. Why not in Afghanistan?
The executive branch is expanded to mitigate corruption and to provide greater popular representation in the executive branch.
The assembly is expanded to empower greater popular representation throughout the country. This increases Afghan government popular legitimacy, participation, and mitigates corruption.
When America exports democracy, it must be in form that fits the nation. Failure is assured if the fit is wrong. No amount of military input can establish a foundation of governance. Greater empowerment and participation in Afghan government, by the population, is the only way to provide stable government.
Nation building is new to America. Let’s learn, adjust, and get it right. It can be done with the right configuration of democratic principals and institutions. A second try is warranted. Afghanistan must not be abandoned until all government democratic reform configurations are exhausted.
America is coach to Afghan team democracy. Coach is responsible for success. It’s your call, coach.
http://coach-1640280.newsvine.com/
http://constitutionm2.newsvine.com/
http://coach-1640280.newsvine.com/_news/2010/06/04/4462088-coach-cm2-constitution